IBM survey finds deep consumer anxiety over data privacy and security

Thursday April 26, 2018

Written by Canadian Security

According to a new survey, 78 per cent of U.S. respondents say a company’s ability to keep their data private is “extremely important” and only 20 per cent “completely trust” organizations they interact with to maintain the privacy of their data.

The online survey of 10,000 consumers, conducted by the Harris Poll on behalf of IBM, found that:

• 75 per cent will not buy a product from a company — no matter how great the products are — if they don’t trust the company to protect their data• 73 per cent think businesses are focused on profits over addressing consumers’ security needs• 73 per cent indicated it is extremely important that companies quickly take proper actions to stop a data breach• 60 per cent are more concerned about cybersecurity than a potential war

“Increasingly, we are seeing companies around the world trying to balance providing personalized services to consumers, while maintaining privacy,” said John Kelly, IBM Senior Vice President, Cognitive Solutions. “Getting this right requires companies working closely with each other and, importantly, with governments, to ensure the right protections are in place.”

IBM has supported strong data privacy and security practices for decades. Recent actions include issuing Data Responsibility @IBM to publish details and obligations about how the company handles clients’ data in October 2017, and signing the EU Data Protection Code of Conduct for Cloud Service Providers, also in 2017.